Late-Night Hosts Use Shutdown for Laughs

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Stephen Colbert joked about what the shutdown of the EPA could mean for dolphins on the Oct. 1 episode of "The Colbert Report."

Updated at 2:45 PM EST on Wednesday, Oct 2, 2013

For hosts of late-night TV, there is one positive aspect to the current government shutdown: the jokes. Over past couple of nights, hosts turned the situation that has left 800,000 U.S. government employees out of work into punchlines.

STEPHEN COLBERT

On Sept. 30, The "Colbert Report" host drew comparisons between "Breaking Bad" and the government shutdown. According to Colbert, the government "started out as a highly sympathetic character in the 1770s, but in just 237 seasons, it has transformed into an egotistical, self-destructive maniac."

The "Daily Show" host featured a segment called "Jon Stewart's Rockin' Shutdown Eve" on Sept. 30 where he accused Republicans of attacking the Affordable Care Act with "random patriotic buzzwordies" to make it seem unconstitutional.

Stewart showed clips of GOP members blasting the president for willing to negotiate with Iranians, but not with Republicans.

"If it turns out that President Barack Obama can make a deal with the most intransigent, hardline, unreasonable, totalitarian mullahs in the world, but not with Republicans, maybe he's not the problem," Stewart said.

On the night of Oct. 1, after the shutdown had officially gone into effect, Jimmy Kimmel acknowledged the 800,000 employees that were furloughed by saying, "The good news is, Congress is still getting paid."

"I want the name of the idiots who elected this people," he said. "Oh wait. It was us?"